Senate President Godswill Akpabio has stated that the Senate will approve a bill aimed at creating special seats for women in the National Assembly.
The law, which aims to address women’s under-representation in politics, will have its second reading in the House of Representatives on July 9, 2024.
During a visit to his office by a group from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s (CPA) UK branch, Akpabio told them that the bill would be supported by the 10th legislature.
The team, led by Kate Osamor, the UK’s trade envoy to East Africa, asked Akpabio about the Senate’s support for the proposed law.
“We want to assure you that the bill that you are referring to will be highly supported by us,” Akpabio told the delegation.
He expressed optimism that the CPA UK delegation’s visit would foster a productive partnership, strengthening parliamentary ties through diplomatic exchanges and mutual visits.
“At the end of this visit, we would have formed a strong CPA UK Parliamentary/Nigeria Cooperation that will outlive us and continue to bring about good governance and freedom of speech and freedom of Association, improving trade and also improving the living standard of people in our various countries,” Akpabio said.
Osamor said the visit was aimed at building support for the passage of a special seats bill for women in the Nigerian parliament.
“We really like to hear from you and know what you are doing to support this bill, to ensure it does happen. But I want you to also recognise that this is a cross-party delegation,” she said.
“So we have come as cross-party members from the House of Common and also from the House of Lords, which is similar to the senate.
“We really want to learn from you and exchange ideas and start a very good conversation. If this bill is able to get over the line, we can start to look at other things on how we can work together.”
